Feelin’ Like 72 Again

Well, the time has now arrived to necessorize the D610. And what do you add to a camera that has pretty much everything?

Well, filters for a start. Back in my Canon days, one of my go-to lenses was the FD 35-105mm f/3.5 zoom with, you guessed it, 72mm filter threads. And now my new go-to lens has them as well. So, I have (an even then-pre-owned) 72mm Hoya UV (0) that I’ve been using. But, the Hoya Pro 1 Digital UV filter is so reasonably priced at 72mm, that it would be a shame not to get one. And this is an excellent opportunity to try the Pro 1 D Circular Polarizer as well. Unfortunately, Hoya appears to have discontinued it in this size, so I had to look a little harder to find it. I've been using the 67mm Nikon Polarizer II, but it’s almost twice the price of the Hoya.

One Stop Shopping Filtering: The Hoya HRT Circular Polarizer UV

Another reasonably priced circular polarizer is the Hoya HRT UV. It’s about 1/3 stop faster and supposedly has UV filtering properties (All polarizers filter far more UV than a UV filter alone.) While it’s only single-coated, it’s manufactured in Japan and of excellent quality. You can keep it on your lens at all times to do triple duty.

Nikon CF-DC5 Semi-Soft Eveready Case

Then comes the Nikon CF-DC5 Semi-Soft Eveready Case. I’m happy to report that It’s quite attractive, unlike many of the previous Nikon cases. I’ve been using the CF-DC3 with my D90 for just that reason. The case that was actually designed for the D90 was a dog, and the CF-DC3, which was actually for the D7000/7100, is infinitely better. And, it fits my D50 and N80 perfectly as well.

I use these cases for storage and when I want to travel light. Sometimes I just don’t need a full camera bag full of accessories. They’re designed for the camera body itself, plus a standard zoom. This one is actually made for the FX 24-85mm, so it’s perfect. If I’m toting an normal lens, there’s enough room that I can take the hood with me and keep it attached in its shooting position rather than having to flip it around.

Now, about the rest of the filters. Realizing that I’m going to be using this lens a lot, I now have a new filter dilemma. My beloved 67mm didymium enhancing filter (among others) won’t fit this lens. And I’m really thinking about this one as a future purchase:

Samyang’s Excellent 35mm f/1.4.

This lens goes for about $450 (about 1/3 the price of its autofocus competitors) and surpasses them in performance, having enjoyed very favorable reviews. What a shame it would be to have to buy filters all over again for this 77mm filter-ring lens.

So, I’m finally taking my own advice (the filter “leap of faith”) and buying my filters in 77mm from now on. I’ll be putting together a system of step-up rings (most of which I have already) and 77mm hoods so they can be adapted to all my lenses. I see these in my future:

With these Vello and Hoya Hoods, you’ll have every lens covered from super wide to tele.

I really like these two hoods; Back in the day, with the proliferation of cheesy folding rubber lens hoods, it was hard to find a good one. And they were all pretty much useless with anything but wide-angle lenses. One size does not fit all when it comes to lens hoods, so the Hoya expands in three steps to cover moderately wide to tele, and it has a solid metal mounting ring. I works great with polarizers. But sometimes it doesn’t go wide enough. Enter the Vello, a really intelligent design. It snaps on quickly, and is reversible just like dedicated hoods, except that it fits standard filter threads. You can even use it with a lens cap, which sadly you can’t do with the Hoya. I rarely use caps in the field unless I’m not using a protection filter, so this is not even a consideration. It’s kind of like Cokin all over again.

Speaking of Cokin, a 77mm adapter ring is also on the list (since I already have a 72mm), and perhaps the new low-profile filter holder:

Cokin Wide Angle Filter Holder

I tested my Cokin outfit with the AF-S Zoom-NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G, and there’s a tiny bit of Vignetting. You can only use one section of modular square hood, and it has to be mounted closest to the camera, meaning you have to remove it to swap out filters. This should improve that experience, and hopefully make it Samyang 35mm f/1.4-ready.

Oh, and let’s not forget the Sigma EM-140 DG Macro Ring Flash. Need a 72mm ring for that as well. Can definitely see myself using the 24-85mm for light macro work.

Finally, I’m going to treat myself to one of these:

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D. Cheapest, Sharpest, Universal Lens for Nikon

Considerably smaller and lighter than my 50mm f/1.4 G, I can now shoot with this using the aperture ring if I so choose. It’s sooo cheap. It’s sooo sharp. It’s sooo light. It’s sooo small. It works with sooo many cameras. It would have been a silly choice for DX. But for FX (Nikon D610, Nikon N80, Nikon F3) the timing is now right.

This lens, like my 20mm f/2.8 D, is all about the direct-coupled focusing ring, which makes them equally suited for manual focus. Very few D lenses have this feature, and no G lenses that come to mind. Manual focusing on a G lens is no bueno. That makes this a very versatile lens, and well-suited for IR use. It even has an IR index. Truly a bargain.